Employee health linked to performance

Employers believe there is a clear link between employee health and organisational performance, a study has suggested – yet nearly two-thirds also believe the rising cost of providing healthcare benefits means that current levels of provision will be unsustainable in the future.

A poll by Jelf Employee Benefits found that 93% of employers believe positive health interventions and prevention can influence personal and organisational performance.

The vast majority of employers (96%) also believed it was appropriate that they promoted better health to their staff. Yet worryingly, nearly two-thirds (62%) did not believe current healthcare benefits were sustainable over the long term, primarily because of concerns over increasing cost.

One of the biggest worries for employers was the cost of managing and providing benefits for an ageing and ailing workforce, rated as a concern by 57% of employers.

Iain Laws, director of UK healthcare for Jelf Employee Benefits, said: “Personal medical insurance costs have been rising for a number of reasons – the increase in the cost of treatment, an increasing reliance on private healthcare by employees and the general deteriorating healthcare trends in the UK population.

“It is important that employers get the right strategy in place to support the structure of their employee benefits by addressing the short-term costs of premiums and the longer-term healthcare strategies to support both the business and the employee.”